What a stretch! The giraffe spooked by the rain...

Kitoto the giraffe was due to travel by truck from Dubbo's Western Plains Zoo to Taronga Zoo this morning but the very rare sight of rain in western NSW ended that plan.

Supervisor Pascal Benoit says she was ready for the trip but at the last minute, changed her mind.

"For the last five or six weeks she's been conditioned to go into her crate and she's quite comfortable being in there, then on to the low loader and on to Sydney, usually pretty straightforward," she says.

Except for one thing... rain. Rare rain.

"It hasn't rained here in Dubbo for several weeks and today we've got some rain, and giraffe don't like to do too much in the rain.

"They'd rather stand under a tree or under an awning and get out of the weather," she explains.

Kitoto needs to be moved sooner rather than later while her height is still under four metres so she has enough clearance in tunnels and under bridges.

The plan now is to move her tomorrow. Fingers, toes and hooves are crossed.